Many schools focus entrepreneurial resources on starting the next Facebook – a business with enormous potential. But new Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Melinda Garvey focuses on small businesses which she describes as “the wave of the future”.
From McCombs Today:
New Entrepreneur-In-Residence Has Small Business Focus
Melinda Garvey has arrived as the new Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at McCombs. Garvey is the third entrepreneur to accept the one-year appointment, following in the footsteps of Gary Hoover and Louise Epstein. She is the owner of AustinWoman magazine and co-founder of ATXMAN(a.k.a., AustinMan magazine) at AW MEDIA Inc., and has been a regular speaker at McCombs on the topic of small business success. McCombs TODAY caught up with Garvey recently, on the heels of the ATXMAN launch party.
McCombs TODAY: Will an interest in small business flavor your focus as Entrepreneur-in-Residence?
Garvey: I definitely come in with that perspective as a guest lecturer over the last four or five years. Students don’t have as much access and as much transparency into the small business world, and I always find they’re intrigued and often surprised at things I’m doing and how we’re doing them.
McT: Do you think that perspective is new for students?
Garvey: In a top-tier business school you have a lot of access into large corporations, and as a result students may not understand what running a small business can mean for your life and your livelihood. So the days of IPOs and big corporations are not over, but it is different now and small business is really the wave of the future. It’s not only something you can be passionate about and something you love, but you can make a great living. There will be some students who won’t be interested in that type of entrepreneurship, but others will consider it a path to explore. It’s certainly a different perspective than the first two entrepreneurs-in-residence.
For the complete article go to http://mccombstoday.org/2011/09/new-entrepreneur-in-residence-has-small-business-focus.
For applicants interested in entrepreneurship in emerging markets MIT’s Global Entrepreneurship Lab provides the perfect experiential opportunity to gain experience consulting on real world strategic issues facing entrepreneurial companies in developing countries.
In MIT StudentBlogs one student chronicles her G-Lab experience in Africa:
G-Lab in Africa
Born in Uruguay and raised in seven different countries in five continents, one of my goals in business school was push the envelope even further as a global trotter and to set foot on at least one of the two remaining continents during my time at Sloan. So when it came time for my team to choose our project, my regional preference was naturally Africa (they didn’t have Antarctica). Luckily there were a lot of Africa projects to choose from in a wide range of sectors. Given that my team had two LGOs (dual degree program in engineering and MBA), a former engineer and me, the project on an antenna technology for market entry in Africa was our natural choice. To be honest, our three-month research process in the U.S. was a rather grueling experience as we had a hard time grasping what new ideas we may be able to come up with for our client. However, it all came together during the on-site internship in Africa, and G-Lab ended up completely exceeding all of my expectations in terms of what I learned and how much I was able to grow as a person.
Getting ready for my on-ground research in Ghana and Kenya, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. My visit to the MIT travel office resulted in six shots on both arms and various medications including malaria pills and diarrhea pills. Boarding the plane to Accra, I was overwhelmed with apprehension and excitement. As we landed, the plane just sort of hit the ground, kept rolling and came to an abrupt stop at a random spot at the airport. We were told to get off the plane, and there we were, in the middle of the Accra airport, where there were no gates and a huge sign that said Akwaaba, which means ”welcome.” Underneath, there was a list of prohibited items in Ghana, including pedophiles and other sexual deviants.
All G-Lab trips are funded either entirely by the host company or by MIT and the host company, but our G-Lab experience was much different from that of other teams in that we were working for a U.S. Fortune 500 company that put us up in a five-star hotel, both in Accra and Nairobi, where we were treated like celebrities. We had a personal trainer in Accra and my tennis coach at the hotel (yes, the hotel had a tennis court) was a Ghanaian national tennis team player who competed in the Davis Cup for Ghana. We also occasionally got massages at the hotel, sipped on pina colada by the pool and worked on our project in a fancy business center. As I mentioned before, this is definitely not the typical G-Lab experience as most G-Lab host companies are start-ups. Another thing that was different about our project was that we were mostly left on our own to work on the project, whereas other teams were working side-by-side with their client companies on-ground. The only face-to-face interaction we had with our client was during our final presentation in Nairobi on the last day of our on-site internship. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the flexibility of being able to think outside the box and to schedule meetings with whomever we felt could add value to the project.
For the complete article go to http://mitsloanblog.typepad.com/yoomi/2011/01/g-lab-in-africa.html.
Many MBA applicants wish to launch businesses directly from school. Yale Entrepreneurial Institute serves as an incubator. Since 2007, YEI has launched 47 ventures that have raised a total of $37 million. This year 10 new student-created ventures were launched as part of YEI’s summer fellowship program. For more information about this process read more at the Yale Daily Bulletin:
As student business ideas evolve and expand, so does YEI
Like the many of the 47 new companies it has helped create since 2007, the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) has outgrown the adjective “start-up.”
The institute, envisioned as a place where Yale students could get advice on implementing their business ideas, has evolved and expanded. It has moved from the cramped York Street office of its younger days into a larger, more formal office at 55 Whitney Ave.
At an open house scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, YEI officials plan to show off the 10 new student-created ventures whose founders recently completed a summer fellowship program, as well as YEI’s own increasingly ambitious and sophisticated programs for connecting the entrepreneurial community at Yale and the region. (See related story, “To market, to market: 10 student enterprises”)
For the complete article go to http://bulletin.yale.edu/article.aspx?id=8816.
Earlier this month UCLA announced changes to its curriculum. These changes were made to better prepare students for specific fields. Employers expected MBA students to be better prepared from their initial hire. Now UCLA Anderson School Dean Judy Olian feels that “UCLA Anderson graduates will be ready to enter the market with deep expertise in their chosen fields when they finish their MBA.”
The major changes are:
- Emphasis on Leadership and Communication Skills from day one
- Specified tracks (marketing, consulting, finance or custom) and certificates (brand management, investment management, sustainability, entrepreneurship, real estate, or entertainment) that align with employer hiring interests.
- Customizable core sequence
- Applied Management Research Project (this requirement has always been there since I graduated in 2000).
The tracks will become mandatory starting with the Class of 2014. For more information go to http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x28616.xml.
To learn more about Wharton’s entrepreneurial resources a prospective MBA applicant might look at the success story of baby.com.br.
From MBA Admissions Blog:
WEP Student Success Story
Wharton has been home to a number of successful Entrepreneurs who have used the resources at WEP to launch their businesses. Recently, Davis Smith, WG ’11, raised $4.3 million for his Brazil-focused online seller of baby products called baby.com.br. Below are just some of his steps towards his success through using WEP:
- Davis won a Wharton Venture Award providing $10,000 to pursue his venture over the summer of 2010.
- Last year Davis was appointed a co-chair of the WBPC & as a participant this year, won third prize for Baby.com.br.
- Baby.com.br was selected to VIP, WEP’s educational incubator.
- Davis founded the “Founder’s Club,” a popular peer-to-peer mentoring forum for Wharton students to share & learn from those with advanced startup experience. He gained valuable insights himself by networking with the Wharton alumni founders of Diapers.com (recently acquired by Amazon for $545 million)
- In the past several months, Davis has: sold his first large scale business, PoolTables.com, the Internet’s largest seller of pool tables; garnered $4.3 million in first round funding for Baby.com.br; won first prize at Harvard Business School’s business plan contest and completed his dual degree in the rigorous Lauder Program.
- Watch Davis & other WBPC semifinalists talk about how WEP resources supported their growing businesses.
Assistant Director of Marketing & Admissions at University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Ariele Greene, discusses the Darden Incubator and its role in supporting early stage ventures in Darden Admissions & MBA Blog:
Companies in the Darden Business Incubator
This summer the Darden Business Incubator is supporting 12 new businesses of Darden students and graduates. The Incubator supplies each entrepreneur with $13,000 in funding to support the development of these early stage ventures, as well as expert advice from legal, marketing and technological communities.
For descriptions of each of the 12 companies and further details about the Darden Business Incubator, read this article, “Darden Incubator Helping 12 Start-Up Companies Emerge.”
You can also learn more about one of the companies, Nomuda, by watching this video of Joe Chard (Darden MBA ’11) talking about his experiences in the Incubator:
From the MBA Insider’s Blog:
2011 Entrepreneurs Conference at UCLA Anderson
UCLA Anderson will hold the 2011 Entrepreneurs Conference this coming Friday, May 13! Come meet, listen to and network with a variety of professional and student entrepreneurs at the largest entrepreneurial event on the UCLA campus.
This year’s theme is “It’s the Journey” and will focus on the process of building a business. For most entrepreneurs, the journey is never over as they continue to grow, overcome obstacles and set new goals and priorities. The joy comes from the completion of a succession of steps, not the finale outcome. A variety of keynote speeches, panels and *new* case studies will highlight the thriving world of entrepreneurship in Southern California and beyond. Topics include fundraising, growing a local marketing presence, relationship-building as well as industry topics such as cleantech, new media, retail and mass customization, restaurants, education, microfinance, real estate and biotech. A fast pitch competition will also be held.
For details and to register for the conference please visit the event site.
-MBA Admissions and Financial Aid
CEO and Founder Marcos Galperin, MBA ’99 recently spoke at a Global Speaker Series event cosponsored by the Latin America Student Association and the Entrepreneurship Club.
From Stanford GSB News:
MercadoLibre Grows Latin America’s Online Marketplace
STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS — In its early days, the founders of MercadoLibre wanted to ensure that their online company, considered the eBay of Latin America, just survived.
The e-commerce enterprise, founded in 1999 by several Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni, has not only survived but thrived, and is now taking strategic steps to beef up its services as more users throughout the region flock to the internet.
The Latin American online e-commerce site recently announced its first quarterly dividend on the heels of a $6 million profit and $200 million in revenue last year. “It’s a great thing to be able to give back to our shareholders some of the money they have invested,” said CEO Marcos Galperin, MBA ’99, who founded MercadoLibre — Spanish for “free market” — right after graduating from the GSB.
Galperin addressed more than 100 students at the GSB on March 3 as part of the Global Speaker Series, an event cosponsored by the Latin America Student Association and the Entrepreneurship Club. He detailed moves the company is making to capitalize on the trends that have boosted internet penetration in the region from 3% in 1999 to 36% today.
For the complete article go to http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/galperin_entrepreneurship_2011.html.
